Parabatais are for life - even when life is short
by A One Girl Revolution
Summary: A young Jem is hesitating to become Will's parabatai for fear that his best and only friend may be in danger because of him. But he doesn't realize that While Will may be more reliable in the physical sense, what with not having to worry about coughing fits caused by demon poison, Will needs him. Will needs Jem to function as his sense of self-preservation.


Charlotte watched as the two boys walked out the front doors of the old church. She had to fight down the urge to run after them. The clave had ordered that the boys be allowed to go on missions on their own. She knew that their reasoning was that they needed to see how the boys worked together on their own before they became parabatai. She knew that and she knew it made sense but everything in her wanted to do whatever it took to keep the boys safe. She wasn't old enough to be their mother but she saw them as her own children, the clave though didn't care and couldn't be bothered to make accommodations, even for a child dying of demon poisoning. One member of clave had gone so far as to comment that if the child was so sick that he couldn't fight safely without her there then was there really any reason to bother trying to keep him alive?

When Charlotte heard those words her blood ran cold. She had been ready to attack and the only thing that held her back was that Henry had miraculously been paying attention and had stepped in to pull her quietly out of the room. And again Henry was standing at her side as she watched the boys walk out the door alone. "They will be fine," he said as the door closed behind the boys. She nodded, "I know but I worry." She shook her head, "I never thought I would say this but I understand why my mother didn't want me to learn to fight. It's so hard to watch them walk out that door and have to wonder what condition they will be back in." she couldn't even verbalize the rest of the thought, 'or if they will be back at all.'

As the boys took off towards the demon activity that they had been sent to investigate Will slowed down a bit to look at Jem, he wanted to make sure the other boy was doing alright. He had heard Jem coughing a bit before Charlotte called to them to tell them the clave was sending them out alone on this one. One look from Jem had told him without a doubt that under no circumstances was he to mention this to Charlotte.

"You doing okay?" Will finally dared to ask now that they were safely out of earshot of the overly worried Charlotte.

Jem came to an abrupt halt, "I don't know if this is wise William." Jem blurted out, he had to get it out fast, before he could change his mind.

"If what is a good idea?" Will felt panic at the back of his mind, his only friend didn't what to be his parabatai?"

James slowly shook his head, "It's not that, you know it's not that."

"Of course not, you could never do better than me." Will, forced a grin, he was actually relieved that that was not the problem but he had to cover his relief with cockiness.

"I can't do better than you, but you can do so much better than me. I mean who isn't better than a parabatai who may at any given second have a coughing fit and become completely useless to you? A poorly timed, demon poison inspired fit could very well be the end of us I couldn't stand it if you were hurt or worse..if it was all my fault."

Will shook his head, "James?" he asked looking the other boy straight in the eye, "You are the only one I ever want to fight alongside. You are the only one worthy of me and the only one who I trust to have my back 100% of the time. We are shadow hunters, we aren't known for our long life spans. You can keep me alive longer than anyone else can though. You are the only one I would ever grant the privilege of expecting my life expectancy."

Jem smiled, he knew that the other boy was referring to more than just keeping him safe from actual demons, he was also referring to the monsters in his own mind. Both boys had their own personal demons, Jem's in his blood and Will's in his mind. But at least neither of them had to fight alone. At that moment all of Jem's doubt was gone. He and Will would help each other to keep battling their demons, personal and actual for as long as they could. He knew that as long as they fought together they would stand a decent chance against anything, but in the back of his mind, he still feared the knowledge that someday he would likely not be there to fight alongside his soon to be parabatai. He only hoped that Will would find someone else to let in by that time.

All these thoughts flitted through his mind in a second but all he said was "Come on let's go. On the way back we can stop and see if our ducks have eaten each other yet!


End file.
